Early “Combat Colin” strip by Lew Stringer up for eBay auction

By John Freeman on January 17, 2023

BEANO and Doctor Who Magazine comic creators Lew Stringer has two more of his smashing strips up for auction on eBay, featuring two of his best known characters, Combat Colin and Tom Thug.

Of the two, perhaps the “Combat Colin” strip is the more significant, as it’s the second ever he ever drew, way back in 1987, commissioned for Marvel UK’s Action Force title.

COMBAT COLIN ORIGINAL ART, the second strip in the series, by Lew Stringer (1987)

“This was actually published third in the run but it was intended as the second,” says Lew. “Not that it mattered that Marvel didn’t run them in order as they were complete episodes at this early stage anyway.”

For those asking, Lew isn’t selling the first “Combat Colin” strip, so if you want the earliest one available that he created, this is it, and unsurprisingly, it’s attracted several bids.

Also up for grabs is a “Tom Thug” page for Buster, which appeared in the issue dated 31st December 1988, a New Year’s Eve theme story featuring the brainless bully, published shortly after the character’s move to the long-running weekly comic from Oink! It’s another fun strip, and again, has attracted several bids already.

Tom Thug by Lew Stringer - Buster dated 31st December 1988

Both auctions close on Sunday and you’ll find them here on eBay, along with some of the independent comics Lew has published in recent years.

Lew Stringer is a writer and artist of humour comics and has been freelancing in the UK comics industry for almost 40 years. His credits involve work for a range of age groups, including “Combat Colin” for Marvel UK, “Tom Thug” for Fleetway, “The Pathetic Sharks” for Viz, “Team Toxic” for Toxic Magazine and many more. He’s been published in The Dandy, Oink!, Buster, Sonic the Comic, and numerous other titles. He’s also had a lifelong interest in the history of British comics and has written articles for the BBC website, Comics Worldmagazine and others.

Lew’s recent credits include “Pup Parade” for The Beano, “The Daft Dimension” for Doctor Who Magazine, and “Sgt Shouty” for The77, and sits pencils ready for other commissions!

• Place your bids here on eBay

• Check out Lew’s work here lewstringercomics.blogspot.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.